It is basic Pavlovian behavioral conditioning and human sociology if you ask me. I do not claim that the good old days were really all that good compared to today, just that whatever chaos or instabilities were created by people were also canceled out by harsh punishment and immediate corrective measures that didn’t have to wait on government bureaucrats and lawyers.

People tend to behave as part of a herd wherein the Alphas are the ones with the initiative to take risks and do things that the herd is afraid of doing.

Once the herd sees that their leader has succeeded in doing something, then it becomes a lot easier for the herd to emulate the action by following.

It is a “herd instinct” which you can see in any number of human sociological groups numbering more than a couple of strangers. In any human group that don’t know each other well, the first guy to speak up usually breaks the ice.

Bank robbers can hold hundreds hostage because the herd instinct won’t allow a mass rush of the robbers unless an individual starts it and looks like he is succeeding. Since an individual will have a very low chance of succeeding against bank robbers armed with firearms or with numbers more than 2, the “herd rush” never really activates even if an individual takes the initiative to do something proactive.

This is why leading from the front and setting an example is so important in improving military efficiency. Most people just won’t get up off their arse and do something unless they see somebody else doing it first. If the leadership doesn’t follow the rules and constantly violates it and takes kickbacks, then the rest of the unit sure as heck ain’t going to want to upset the status quo by holding themselves to higher or different standards.

All this applies to treason and traitors in a very simple fashion. Once you get a couple of traitors that are “leading the charge” and actually benefiting from their treason, then you get biggazillions of more traitors cropping up like Dragonteeth. Why? Because the herd instinct has been activated.

While killing the leader of a Brownian Motion mob that is gathering can disperse the mob, you need something else entirely once that mob starts moving in the herd stampede mode. Then killing individuals won’t do jack, cause the Brownian Motion of the mob has superseded any ‘individual’ initiative.

This is often similar to (a Germanic tribe) Sweboz barbarian horde that launches a berserk charge with no unit cohesion or discipline or chain of command. Killing leaders, nobles, or individuals selectively in that charge does absolutely nothing because often the nobles and leaders are the only ones that can call a halt to the blood frenzied charge.

To move a herd in a different direction, one must use sheepdogs or some kind of mass psychological weapon or deterrence. Killing single traitors is no longer all that effective any more once the mob has smelled the blood of treason prospering.

Using guilt to get money from guillible Westerners is probably a living industry in various second and third worlds, not just tourist spots either.

Nicky Jardine, 50, who has two adult daughters and runs her own headhunting business in Guildford, Surrey, goes on holidays with the intention of having sex with young foreigners.

“I see nothing wrong in being a sex tourist,” she says. “My working life is very stressful. Holidays are a time when I can have fun. I have dated men here, but men my age want younger women, and they are also boring. Compare them to a fit, tanned 20-year-old Egyptian!”

There are times that I wonder if there is a genetic timer on any civilization counting down to doomsday.

I love figuring out the little messages George Lucas, the anti-Bush Leftist director, puts in his movies. But I love reading about how other people deconstructs his messages even more! I also like David Brin’s novels, so that doesn’t hurt the message about Lucas’ message.

By now it’s grown clear that George Lucas has an agenda, one that he takes very seriously. After four “Star Wars” films, alarm bells should have gone off, even among those who don’t look for morals in movies. When the chief feature distinguishing “good” from “evil” is how pretty the characters are, it’s a clue that maybe the whole saga deserves a second look.

Just what bill of goods are we being sold, between the frames?

* Elites have an inherent right to arbitrary rule; common citizens needn’t be consulted. They may only choose which elite to follow.

* “Good” elites should act on their subjective whims, without evidence, argument or accountability.

* Any amount of sin can be forgiven if you are important enough.

* True leaders are born. It’s genetic. The right to rule is inherited.

* Justified human emotions can turn a good person evil.

……………………

In “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” Joseph Campbell showed how a particular, rhythmic storytelling technique was used in almost every ancient and pre-modern culture, depicting protagonists and antagonists with certain consistent motives and character traits, a pattern that transcended boundaries of language and culture. In these classic tales, the hero begins reluctant, yet signs and portents foretell his pre-ordained greatness. He receives dire warnings and sage wisdom from a mentor, acquires quirky-but-faithful companions, faces a series of steepening crises, explores the pit of his own fears and emerges triumphant to bring some boon/talisman/victory home to his admiring tribe/people/nation.

By offering valuable insights into this revered storytelling tradition, Joseph Campbell did indeed shed light on common spiritual traits that seem shared by all human beings. And I’ll be the first to admit it’s a superb formula — one that I’ve used at times in my own stories and novels.

Alas, Campbell only highlighted positive traits, completely ignoring a much darker side — such as how easily this standard fable-template was co-opted by kings, priests and tyrants, extolling the all-importance of elites who tower over common women and men. Or the implication that we must always adhere to variations on a single story, a single theme, repeating the same prescribed plot outline over and over again. Those who praise Joseph Campbell seem to perceive this uniformity as cause for rejoicing — but it isn’t. Playing a large part in the tragic miring of our spirit, demigod myths helped reinforce sameness and changelessness for millennia, transfixing people in nearly every culture, from Gilgamesh all the way to comic book super heroes.

he could almost be talking about Obama and the myth of the super guerrilla/terrorist/freedom fighter.

Lucas defends his elitist view, telling the New York Times, “That’s sort of why I say a benevolent despot is the ideal ruler. He can actually get things done. The idea that power corrupts is very true and it’s a big human who can get past that.”

Definitely Obama. It does explain some Leftist quirks folks might have noticed about how they hate Bush and the Bushitler Nazis but revere their own little Fuhrers that are Democrats.